CAREER: Distributed spatial neural dynamics

该奖项全部或部分由2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。大脑动力学-活动随时间的波动-在大脑区域之间紧密协调，这些耦合的动力学可能是许多感知和认知过程的基础。大脑活动不仅随时间变化，而且在空间上也会变化，表现为波和其他动态演变的空间扩展模式。然而，这些空间动态是否也在大脑区域之间协调，类似于时间模式的方式，尚不清楚。在这项提案中，新的工具将被用于大规模的空间测量和神经活动的操纵来回答这个问题。这项工作将对我们理解感知和行为背后的大脑活动产生影响，并可能为下一代人工智能系统的设计提供重要的见解。为该项目开发的软件将把大规模系统神经科学带到低收入环境中的教室，并将使使用我们新技术的科学家的培训和访问民主化。为了破译皮质和皮质下脑区域之间的空间动力学的协调，将使用GCaMP 7转基因小鼠中的宽场钙成像与使用Neuropixels 2.0探针的深部脑结构中的大规模电生理学的组合。这项工作将利用本实验室开发的新型电极阵列，适用于测量丘脑，纹状体，中脑和脑桥的神经活动的空间模式。除了记录之外，空间协调活动的潜在机制将通过机械和光遗传神经操作的组合来测量。最后，我们将测试一个假设的作用，传播神经活动的α（3-6赫兹）频率范围内的行为和感知小鼠。这些实验将揭示大脑各区域共享活动模式的结构，并对这些区域的计算功能及其相互作用产生影响。作为对这些研究的补充，我们将开发软件，将大规模系统神经科学带入低收入环境的课堂，增加培训机会，并让科学家使用我们在本实验室开发的新技术。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Brain dynamics – fluctuations in activity over time – are tightly coordinated across brain regions, and these coupled dynamics may underlie many perceptual and cognitive processes. Brain activity varies not only over time but also in space, taking the form of waves and other spatially extended patterns that evolve dynamically. However, whether these spatial dynamics are also coordinated across brain regions, similar to the way temporal patterns are, is unknown. In this proposal new tools will be leveraged for large-scale spatial measurements and manipulations of neural activity to answer this question. This work will have impact on our understanding of brain activity underlying perception and behavior, and may yield insights important for design of next-generation artificial intelligence systems. Software, developed for this project will bring large-scale systems neuroscience to classrooms in low-income settings, and will democratize training and access for scientists using our novel technologies. To decipher the coordination of spatial dynamics between cortical and subcortical brain regions, a combination of widefield calcium imaging in GCaMP7 trangenic mice coupled with large-scale electrophysiology in deep brain structures using Neuropixels 2.0 probes, will be used. This work will take advantage of novel electrode arrays developed by this laboratory, and is suitable for measuring the spatial pattern of neural activity in thalamus, striatum, midbrain, and pons. In addition to recordings, the mechanisms underlying spatially coordinated activity will be measured via a combination of mechanical and optogenetic neural manipulations. Finally, we will test a hypothesis for the role of propagating neural activity in the alpha (3-6 Hz) frequency range in behavior and perception in mice. Together these experiments will uncover the structure of shared activity patterns across brain regions and have implications for the computational functions of these regions and for their interactions. Complementing these studies, software will be developed to bring large-scale systems neuroscience to classrooms in low-income settings, increasing training opportunities and access for scientists using our new technology developed in this laboratory.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.